penguin

/ˈpɛŋgwən/

/ˈpɛngwɪn/

Other forms: penguins

What's black and white and loves to eat seafood? A penguin! Penguins are flightless water birds, and the only place in the Northern Hemisphere where you'll find wild penguins is on the Galápagos Islands.

If you live north of the equator, your interactions with penguins are limited to zoos and aquariums. Penguins are distinctive because of their contrasting black-and-white coloring, their size, and the fact that they walk and swim but don't fly. Their wings have, in fact, evolved to act as flippers in the water. You might think of penguins as cold-weather birds, and many do live in Antarctica, but most are found in more temperate areas.

Definitions of penguin

1. noun

   short-legged flightless birds of cold southern especially Antarctic regions having webbed feet and wings modified as flippers
   types:

   Adelie, Adelie penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae

   medium-sized penguins occurring in large colonies on the Adelie Coast of Antarctica

   Aptenodytes patagonica, king penguin

   large penguin on islands bordering the Antarctic Circle

   Aptenodytes forsteri, emperor penguin

   the largest penguin; an Antarctic penguin

   Spheniscus demersus, jackass penguin

   small penguin of South America and southern Africa with a braying call

   crested penguin, rock hopper

   small penguin of the Falkland Islands and New Zealand

   type of:

   sphenisciform seabird

   flightless cold-water seabirds: penguins